No Matter What
by Icy Rundas
Summary: The War has begun. When it's Raimi v.s. her love, what will happen? Asuma X OC Raimi. No connection to Never Surrender other than the character. Character death.


Not a day passed that I didn't think about him. In reality, it hadn't been that long since he had gone away from me, but to me…to me it felt like an eternity since he had left me forever. I thought about him even more now that War was upon us. I prayed that he was watching over us from above in our Time of Need. I prayed that he was protecting us, holding us forever in his heart as I did with his memory. Now that War had returned, I hoped that his memory would keep us safe as we fought for our lives.

You could feel it in the air. Everyone could feel it. It was a painful, clawing Desperation, an extreme Anxiety that no one could miss. War was very close now, and with the reports we had been getting…it seemed like Death was to be inevitable for some. Inescapable, for in War, Death was common. Especially in our kind of war. You could be alive and fighting one moment, and the next, you could be lying lifeless and pale on the cold, unforgiving dirt. That's what happened to him…that's how Shinobi Wars were.

It had been said that the estimated enemy number was somewhere around one hundred thousand. Staggering numbers, even against the number of shinobi from the 5 Main Villages. Every day, the feeling grew worse and worse, until it started to become unbearable. Even though we were all working under one emblem, Shinobi, we were becoming restless, and tensions were high. High enough that past hatreds were leaking through our reserves and we would fight with each other. This all stopped when Lord Kazekage Gaara stood up and spoke. He spoke of unity and uniting us against Kabuto and the Akatsuki that remained. When he was finished, it was dead silent. And then…a tremendous cheer roared throughout Our Army. They cheered for Gaara; they cheered for unity. While everyone was cheering, I began to feel an overwhelming sense of dread and my chest started hurting. I clenched my fist with one hand and clawed at my heart through my vest with the other. Iruka watched me worriedly as I seized up.

"Rai, are you okay?" I turned to him half-way and gripped his shoulder, hard.

"I-Iruka…something's wrong…something's going to happen. It's going to be big…"

"Do you need to talk to Kakashi?" I shook my head after a minute.

"No…can't bother him right now…my heart hasn't hurt this much since…Asuma…" He frowned. I let go of his shoulder and looked back up at Gaara and Kakashi. Gaara had a slightly pained look in his eyes, and I knew he was feeling this feeling too. My nails dug into the skin above my heart through my vest. Gaara said a few more words, and then we all began to disperse, rushing toward the enemy forces. My heart still hurt, but I blocked the pain out. Instead, I took the feeling of dread and turned it into part of the force that drove me; the force that all of us shared.

While we were setting up our defenses, it began to hurt more and more. After I finished what I was doing, I sat down and leaned against a tree for support. I closed my eyes for a moment to try and relieve the pain.

"Enemies approaching! Get ready!" My eyes shot open and I hastily got to my feet. I glanced back and forth, watching for any signs of an enemy attack. Suddenly, I could hear the sounds of battle not far from where our encampment was at. I ran as fast as I could to the battle site, where I could already see injured ninja on the ground. I heard someone grunt as they fought and it sounded…so familiar…I kept running, past a series of bushes. Then…I saw him. My eyes widened, and the pain in my heart intensified even more. The fighting man stopped beating on one of my fellow crewmembers and turned to me. His black, now soulless eyes looked straight at me and he frowned, saddened by my appearance.

"Rai…please leave…I don't want to fight you…"

"A-Asuma! Why are you…? How are you…? What's going on?" He threw the Hyuuga he was fighting and faced me completely. 'Ah, this must be the lovely Raimi…I feel sorry for you, pawn. Do whatever you want.' His body began to move of its own accord, though he struggled to stop it.

"Raimi! Leave!" I couldn't fight him, but I couldn't leave, either. He was my master and had taught me everything I knew. And I hadn't changed or learned much since he had gone.

He began moving toward me, moving jerkily like a robot. I weakly slipped in to the defensive position he had taught me, but I knew it wouldn't help. As he approached me, his hand cupped my cheek, and I involuntarily leaned against it, remembering the feeling. He embraced me, and I slipped my arms slowly around his neck.

"I missed you, Rai…you don't know how lonely it is…" I tilted my body in to match his and he brought his lips in to meet mine. The taste of smoke was barely there it had been so long, but it was still present. I relished the feeling of being with him again.

* * *

It didn't hurt as much as I thought it would. When he plunged the kunai knife into my back, I mean. I barely even felt it. I could feel the tears slipping from his eyes as he did it. They dripped onto my face.

"I'm so sorry, Raimi…so, so sorry…you know I would never hurt you…" As I bled out, he laid me against the tree and held me until the light began to leave my eyes.

"A-Asuma…I…still…I still love you…no matter…what…" He tightened his hold on me and pressed his lips to the top of my head.

"As soon as this is over…we can be together again…forever…" He rocked me back and forth, and as I passed, I heard one last thing from him.

"I love you too, Rai. No matter what…"


End file.
